July 2007

July 26, 2007

Take a drive down York Boulevard to see your tax dollars at work. The gateway has been transformed over the past few weeks thanks to a $285,000 investment approved by council last budget. The new flower beds and hanging baskets are in full bloom. Public works crews have also been out in full force this week planting trees along the road. Take a drive and let me know if you think the investment is worth it.

July 24, 2007

Once bitten, twice shy. Or perhaps twice bitten and third time’s a charm?
Hamilton appears to be tiptoeing its way toward another major games bid. Sports columnist Scott Radley revealed today that city officials have begun very preliminary talks about Hamilton bidding for the 2015 Pan Am Games. Nothing serious will be decided until they know if Canada has a real chance at the games and plans to put in a bid. It will be interesting to see if council will be receptive to the idea after throwing money into two failed bids for the Commonwealth Games. The fact that Halifax, who beat Hamilton in the last round, backed out because it couldn’t afford the venture will likely make many nervous. There’s no doubt an international games would do wonders to enhance the city’s beleaguered infrastructure, but can we afford to go for it? Can we afford not to?

July 18, 2007

Just call him double agent Eisenberger. The mayor's office sent out an amusing email to council today announcing his new email address under an alias. From now on email to Mayor Fred and Fred Eisenberger will only be checked by staff. Councillors who want to email Fred directly will have to use his new email under a pseudonym. I'm awfully tempted to reveal the alias, but I'll behave for now and save Fred the trouble of changing it. But trust me, it's funny and there's a Frederick involved. I'd like everyone to email me at Nickigalore from now on.

Score one for the little guys in the war on urban sprawl. A joint board ruled this week against a proposal to build 17 homes on Winona farmland. The lot in the shadow of the escarpment has been the focus of a bitter and costly debate for more than a decade. Different planning documents offered conflicting interpretations of whether the land was urban or rural. This week's ruling means the land is outside the urban boundary and can't be used for a housing development. Beyond the small plot of land, advocates say the decision also sends a strong message that the constant creep of development won't be tolerated. Whether or not that's true will be revealed when the joint board rules on another proposal to build 250 homes on the Niagara Escarpment in Milton.

July 10, 2007

As a city hall reporter there are certain stories I love because I know they'll get a strong public reaction. Garbage, animal control and tax increases all rank in this category. The day after I write about one of those issues my phone rings constantly. I'm guessing a proposed pay raise for council might do the same.
An independent consultant is recommending a $10,000 raise for councillors, who currently make about $55,000. When you factor in their one-third tax free bonus, their salary is actually closer to $68,000. But that's still low compared to councillors in other communities like Burlington and Mississauga. The consultant notes it might be hard to attract good candidates to council if they would be taking a pay cut. Of course, there are still lots of professionals, myself included, who would be getting a raise to jump into politics.
Council will decide tomorrow if they support the raise and if they want to keep the tax exemption. I know several councillors are already nervous about the debate. While it may seem like a perk to be able to give yourself a raise, councillors are smart enough to know if plays badly in the community. They've backed off from substantial increases in the past for fear of a negative reaction. This time, however, they have an outside consultant arguing they are underpaid. Thoughts?

UPDATE: Councillors approved the raise, which actually worked out to about $9,000. Sam Merulla was the only vote against. Bob Bratina left the room during the vote, but later told me he supports the raise for his colleagues. He said he won't take the raise himself however.

July 06, 2007

You never get a second chance to make a first impression as they say. The city is exploring building gateways at the city's major entrances. Consultants have pitched four designs. Which one do you like best? Do you have a better idea?

* I should add MTO rules state the gateway can only have a city's name, nothing else.

Option 1: Corporate Brand
This design uses the city’s H logo, blue and yellow colours and font, which is used on city letterhead, vehicles and advertising. Shrubs would be in the background.

Option 2: High Level Bridge
This design would feature a model version of the famous T. B. McQuesten High Level Bridge. The top edge of shrubs represents the escarpment in the distance.

Option 3: City Name with Cor-Ten steel background
This design is meant to recall the City’s industrial heritage and natural environment with a contemporary edge. The letters would be stainless steel, backed by weathering steel in a rust colour.

Option 4: City name with local landscape background
This design would feature bold contemporary lettering against a natural landscape specific to the area, such as fruit trees, a grove of Sumach or red grasses.

It's hard to keep up with the city's staff list lately. Now two more seniors managers are out the door.
Bill Fenwick, director of culture and recreation, is leaving after a restructuring to break his department in two. In an email to council his departure was described as a "mutually agreed upon" parting of ways. The city is now recruiting for a new director of recreation.
Wray Oakes, manager of roads operations & maintenance in public works, is also leaving as of August 13. The 25-year employee is taking a new job as manager of road operations with the Municipality of Haldimand Norfolk.

Looks like a lot of new faces will soon be sitting around the municipal table. I'll let others speculate as to why.

My apologies for the slow blog. I've been busy unpacking and decorating the new house. But I'm back now and searching City Hall for good stories, which isn't easy during the summer, trust me! If you have ideas on how to keep the blog debate flowing when the city goes quiet, please let me know! I'm forever indebted to hot tipsters. On that note I got an email this week that took me to a message on a website that blew up after 30 seconds. Felt very Inspector Gadget. Sure beats a brown envelope.

Nicole Macintyre

Nicole MacIntyre is the queen of kings. A married mother of two boys, including the world's former worst sleeper, she's also a reporter and parenting columnist at the Hamilton Spectator. A devotee of the 'whatever works' approach to child-rearing, Nicole has learned to never say "I'll never" when it comes to parenting.